2) Cholestyramine Can Stop Diarrhea
People who suffer from diarrhea can use cholestyramine to treat it.
Bile acid can stimulate the colon and cause diarrhea. However, after cholestyramine makes bile acid insoluble, the bile acid passes through the bowels and does not stimulate the colon, preventing diarrhea from happening [R].
Cholestyramine was found to be one of the most effective drugs to treat diarrhea, with a success rate of more than 70% [R].
3) Cholestyramine Treats Bacterial Infection
Bacteria clostridium difficile can overgrow in the digestive tract and release toxins that attack the lining of the intestines. It can be treated using Cholestyramine and is used in conjunction with another drug called vancomycin to treat diarrhea and other symptoms related to this bacteria infection [R].
Lyme disease can also be treated by using cholestyramine and atovaquone. It reduces the symptoms of the disease [R].
Cholestyramine can also bind E.coli and its toxins to help prevent diarrhea [R].
4) Cholestyramine Improves Blood Sugar Control in Diabetes Patients
5) Cholestyramine Combats Hyperthyroidism
Patients that do not respond well to conventional therapy for hyperthyroidism can take daily doses of cholestyramine to treat hyperthyroidism and its symptoms [R].
6) Cholestyramine Treats Digoxin Intoxication
Digoxin is a drug used to treat heart failures. Toxic levels of digoxin can cause health problems, and cholestyramine will reduce levels and decrease the performance of digoxin [R].
7) Cholestyramine Prevents Itching
Cholestyramine can be used to stop pruritus or severe itching of the skin, that occurs when someone has liver failure [R].
Cholestyramine used in ointments can be also used to heal diaper rashes in babies [R].
8) Cholestyramine Reduces Pain
When used on patients post-surgery (for patients with hemorrhoids), cholestyramine ointments helped reduce pain by 15%. They also took fewer painkillers than the average patient [R].
9) Cholestyramine Reduces Inflammation
Cholestyramine and mesalazine treatment can be used to treat collagenous colitis, a chronic inflammatory disease of the colon [R].
10) Cholestyramine Treats Anemia
Cholestyramine, coupled with flunarizine and pentoxifylline can help treat spur cell anemia, which is a lack of red blood cells due to alcoholism. This treatment of 3 drugs helped patients recover from anemia and also reduced the number of spur cells in the body [R].
11) Cholestyramine Promotes Gallbladder Health
Cholestyramine is shown to increase emptying of the gallbladder. This prevents gallstones from forming and is good for your health [R].
Cons of Cholestyramine
1) Common Side Effects of Cholestyramine
2) Cholestyramine Reduces Vitamin Absorption
Cholestyramine lowers the levels of Vitamin D and K. In some cases, patients were Vitamin K deficient after long term usage of cholestyramine [R, R].
You need to supplement with
Vitamin K2 if you’re taking cholestyramine.
3) Cholestyramine May Decrease Mineral Levels
Magnesium, Iron, and Zinc levels were found to decrease in rats that underwent cholestyramine diets. They also had increased urinary excretion of calcium and magnesium; however, calcium levels remained normal [R].
4) Cholestyramine Might Cause Liver Damage
High levels of alanine aminotransferase in the blood can lead to liver damage. In a study done on healthy adults, they were given a daily dose of 8g of cholestyramine and their levels of alanine aminotransferase increased by more than three times. This huge increase was also coupled with cell death in the liver, which means that cholestyramine plays a part in liver damage [R].
5) Cholestyramine Can Lower Thyroid Hormones
Bile activates receptors that increase thyroid hormones (
TGR5).
By binding to bile, your thyroid hormones will go down, which is why it’s good for
hyperthyroidism.
6) Drug Interactions
Cholestyramine can decrease the absorption and prevent full performance of the following drugs [R]:
- Digoxin [R]
- Diclofenac [R]
- Warfarin [R]
- Hydrochlorothiazide [R]
- Leflunomide [R]
- Cerivastatin [R]
- Glipizide [R]
- Troglitazone [R]
Using Cholestyramine
Adults usually take 4g of the pure CSM on an empty stomach (1 hour after food) 3-4x a day. It’s best to eat something with fat 30 minutes after taking CSM in order to help stimulate bile. You may also take CSM 30 minutes before a meal.
Make sure to take CSM 3-4 hours away from medication to avoid binding of the medication. For this reason take vitamins first thing in the morning is most efficient.
It’s a good idea to check VCS before taking CSM so that you can monitor its decrease as you continue taking CSM. Some will also test
MMP9 before taking CSM. You’ll see why in the “What to Expect” section.
Generally, it’s best to mix several binders in water for the best results, such as a scoop of
Activated charcoal, Clay, a few caps of Chitosan-micro, 4g of CSM and
Magnesium (taking this mixture with magnesium calm at night helps cover the taste of CSM).
You must be able to go to the restroom in order for the binders to have an effect, and the magnesium helps to offset any constipation effect. If you have major gastrointestinal problems, work up your dosage slowly, or as tolerated. For these people, it’s best to take a break after 3 months.
Dr. Shoemaker recommends someone with CIRS take Cholestyramine until their VCS test is normalized. This can sometimes take longer than 3-6 months.
However, because long-term use can occasionally cause slight problems with your liver, it’s usually best to stop at the 3 or 4 mark and continue taking other binders in order to help your liver recover if need be. But toxins in the body can cause a lot of damage to the liver in general, so it’s best to get them OUT as soon as possible.
What to Expect
Some people can begin to see improvement in their VCS tests (a test used to determine neurotoxicity) within a month of taking Cholestyramine. There are also cases of people with CIRS taking CSM and immediately having their symptoms disappear. This is rarer and usually requires a longer length of treatment.
Others may experience what
Dr. Shoemakerdescribes as an “intensification,” meaning a short-term rise in symptoms after taking CSM, which then usually dies down over the next day or few days. If the intensification takes a long time to resolve, it’s best to temporarily stop CSM, then add it back in at a reduced dose of 4g 2x a day.
If the intensification occurs again and lasts awhile, you can take an
MMP9 test to see if it has increased. If so, this is another clue that treating infections is a good next step before adding CSM back into the picture again.
There is no real data on why this happens, but the theory is that perhaps this is due to an already increased MMP9, or a current
lyme infection (I believe it could also be due to other infections which cannot be targeted directly by CSM and may require treatment in addition to the CSM). In this case, CSM is potentially increasing the release of toxins, causing a temporary spike in cytokines before they are then excreted from the body.
Usually, if MMP9 has increased after an intensification, it is a good idea to take a high dose of fish oil, and stay on an anti-inflammatory,
low-lectin, low-tannin diet (you should be on this diet anyway throughout treatment). After 30 days your inflammation levels should be reduced and you may begin taking CSM at the regular dose of 4g, 3-4x a day (as tolerated) dose.
